[AT] Old tractors and old men

charlie hill charliehill at embarqmail.com
Sat Feb 4 14:47:15 PST 2017


Tom, my dad died young as the delayed result of an accident but
my grandfather farmed until he was 86 and died at 95.  I hoped I'd take
after him and actually I think I do BUT the 2 years I spent taking care of
my mom dragged me down.  I didn't have to do a lot of heavy lifting with
her like Cecil did with his dad but the inactivity of sitting with her day 
after
day took a physical toll.  Before I could still work like a young man, not 
as long
but just as hard.  Now I just can't get it done.  I'm going to try and get 
back in
shape but know it's not going to be easy or fun.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: tmehrkam at sbcglobal.net
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2017 4:22 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Old tractors and old men

My dad worked hard until he was 88. Built 4 miles of fence at 85. Passed at 
91.   I am only 64 so there is hope.

      From: Dennis Johnson <moscowengnr at outlook.com>
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Friday, February 3, 2017 1:49 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Old tractors and old men

David,

I have been blessed by God with reasonably good health. I will be 67 next 
month. I still can do a lot, just not as fast or as long as I used to do it.
Last trip to Okla, I installed soffits and outside lights on the cabin I am 
building, and set a steel post in the ground on a shop building I am 
building. Used small electric jack hammer to get through the last few inches 
of sandstone in the bottom of the hole I dug, because a steel bar was too 
much work to break the rock. Started the shop over 10 years ago, and took a 
while to get round tuit's working. Plan setting 2 more posts next trip, and 
installing combo A/C heater unit in cabin wall so it then can be insulated. 
It is still enjoyable and relaxing to go there and be able to do what I do. 
I am not in a race!
I feel a little bit like my IHC 2504 - missing on 1 cylinder, but for small 
projects who cares. Has a fuel issue where it runs good for a while, and 
then needs to stop and set a bit for the fuel to refill the carb bowl. It is 
not in shape to do 8 hours of heavy loading, but neither am I so the tractor 
and I match well.

Thanks
Dennis

Sent from my iPad

> On Feb 3, 2017, at 1:08 PM, "tmehrkam at sbcglobal.net" 
> <tmehrkam at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> You guys are depressing.  It sounds like you are in about the same shape 
> as most parts Tractors. :-{
>
> I hope things pick up for you. I do not like seeing where I am going.
>
>
>
>      From: David Bruce <tractor57 at gmail.com>
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 3, 2017 12:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [AT] Old tractors and old men
>
> Not there yet but still dealing with the effects of a stroke in 2002.
> Spent 10 weeks in ICU and rehab. Had a meeting with my maker but decided
> my work here was not done. The outcome is a lot of my plans were
> derailed but I wake up every morning with an appreciation of the day.
>
> Today we have cows in the backyard - not my cows but from my pasture
> which I rent. My dog is NOT happy - things not in place.
>
> David
>
> NW NC and happy in my briar patch
>
>
>> On 2/2/2017 8:19 PM, Greg Hass wrote:
>> This will be somewhat of a ramble and may wander so bare with me. Lately
>> it seems some have hinted at problems so I suspect I am not alone. At 69
>> much of what I thought would be the fun in life has left. Many of the
>> things I looked forward to enjoying are going by the wayside. My brain
>> is at about 35 years old but my body says go to he- double hockey
>> sticks. A few months ago I found out my back is shot and can not be
>> fixed.  It started 5 years ago while planting spring crops, every night
>> I ran a small fever and in the morning I was fine only to run a fever
>> again that night. After about 3 weeks I went to the doctor who ran some
>> tests and found nothing. A week later the fever spiked and I went to the
>> emergency room about midnight. More tests were run which showed nothing.
>> The doctor said it had to be hiding somewhere and ordered a cat scan. A
>> couple of hours later the results were in. For at least a month I had a
>> ruptured appendix. That was bad enough, but come morning, they told me
>> one of my kidneys had cancer. Six weeks later, I had surgery and they
>> removed my appendix and my kidney. Fast forward to late fall; at the
>> last checkup for the surgery, they told me I had prostate cancer. 50
>> radiation treatments later I was moving forward but had lost the
>> interest to do a lot of things. I have the best shop of my life to work
>> in. It is only 24 x 24 but is heated and I have some nice tools such as
>> a bridgeport  mill, torches and 3 welders plus other tools but have lost
>> the go to it to go out and work plus my back is always sore. As someone
>> has mentioned, if I get down on my knees I must get a hold of something
>> to get up. Also for the last 4 years I have not enjoyed the 3 tractor
>> shows I like to attend each year because of the pain in my hips only
>> lets me walk about 200 feet at a time so I don't see much. I thought it
>> was bad muscles but now know it was my back. For this year I hope to
>> enjoy shows more as I bought a small electric handicapped scooter. None
>> of our shows allow golf carts or 4 wheelers of any kind. 3 years ago I
>> took my Polaris Ranger to one and it was great, but someone  else with
>> one "bumped" someone and they sued the tractor show and that ended that.
>> Handicapped scooters are allowed as they only hold one person and are
>> slow moving. I guess the purpose of all this is how do some of this list
>> handle problems and work on old tractors and such. I farm 110 acres and
>> only have 2 pieces of equipment under 40 years old.  I used to look
>> forward to getting  up in the morning and working on equipment.  All my
>> life I have enjoyed working on mechanical things but now I still want to
>> do it but I can't get the will power to do it. It's not the lack of time
>> as I have lots of that but no getting it done. How do others on the list
>> with health problems get it done. I don't want to sound like I'm
>> complaining as I have much to be thankful for, however , not being able
>> to work without pain and even then taking all day for a 1 hour job does
>> get me down. I hope my thoughts are sort of clear and are not to off
>> topic as these problems affect old iron in a big way.
>>                  Greg Hass
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